In the wake of COVID-19, funeral services have had to change, along with almost everything else in our lives.

Presenter Chad Green, owner of Donaldson-Seymour Funeral Home in Massena and Potsdam, explained these new changes in a recent “Coffin Club” virtual presentation.

“It’s a new time. It’s a different time in funeral services because of the pandemic,” said Green, Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley board president.

“Traditional services can still happen. We can still have visitations for calling hours, but it has to be on a limited basis in New York State.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is saying we should only have immediate family in attendance at the public visitation and service, and try to limit the number to 10 or less people, including the staff and clergy, he said.

“We’ve worked with some families where the immediate family is much more than nine people, so we are doing staggered time slots over several hours,” said Green.

For social distancing, Donaldson-Seymour Funeral Home has removed all but nine chairs, and the chairs are spread out in the parlor. Funeral services are limited to one family at a time, and after each service the parlor room, bathroom, and public areas are cleaned.

Everyone is required to have face coverings, but gloves are optional.

Also, there are a few extra precautions taken by funeral homes for embalming bodies, following CDC guidelines.

“There are no regulations in NYS, or to my knowledge nationwide, that say you are required to be cremated because of a COVID death,” he said.

“Many funeral homes have started doing Facebook Live. Some are also offering webcasting services, so it’s not public access unless you know the link that the funeral home gives you,” Green said. “We’ve had some very good feedback from our webcasting.”

“For those who can’t have public calling hours, I recommend a way to honor the memory of the deceased,” Green said. “You can go through the burial with the immediate family, but have some type of celebration of life and memorial later, when people can gather at a normal place and time.”

People need to have a way to console one another, more than a phone call or note of condolence on a funeral home website, he said. He encourages face-to-face contact that a celebration of life afterward can provide.

Green’s presentation was hosted by Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley recently. It can be seen by visiting https://hospiceslv.org/coffinclub-covid19/

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